To install SQL Server 2008

Insert the SQL Server installation media, and from the root folder, double-click setup.exe. To install from a network share, navigate to the root folder on the share, and then double-click setup.exe. If the Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Setup dialog box appears, click OK to install the prerequisites, then click Cancel to quit SQL Server 2008 installation.

Windows Installer 4.5 is also required, and may be installed by the Installation Wizard. If you are prompted to restart your computer, restart and then launch the SQL Server 2008 setup.exe again.

Once prerequisites are installed, the Installation Wizard will launch the SQL Server Installation Center. To create a new installation of SQL Server 2008, click "New Installation or Add Features to an Existing Installation."

The System Configuration Checker will run a discovery operation on your computer. To continue, click Ok. At this point, Setup log files have been created for your installation. For more information about log files, see How to: View and Read SQL Server Setup Log Files.

On the Product key page, click a radio button to indicate whether you are installing a free edition of SQL Server, or whether you have a PID key for a production version of the product. For more information, see Editions and Components of SQL Server 2008 R2.

On the License Terms page, read the license agreement, and then select the check box to accept the licensing terms and conditions. To continue, click Next. To end Setup, click Cancel.

The Installation Wizard will install SQL Server prerequisites if they are not already on the computer. They include the following:

.NET Framework 2.0

SQL Server Native Client

SQL Server Setup Support Files

To install prerequisites, click Install.

The System Configuration Checker will verify the system state of your computer before Setup continues. After the check is complete, click Next to continue.

On the Feature Selection page, select the components for your installation. A description for each component group appears in the right-hand pane after you select the feature name. You can select any combination of check boxes. For more information, see Editions and Components of SQL Server 2008 R2.

You can also specify a custom directory for shared components using the field at the bottom of this page. To change the installation path for shared components, either update the path name in the field provided at the bottom of the dialog box, or click Browse to navigate to an installation directory. The default installation path is C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\.

On the Instance Configuration page, specify whether to install a default or a named instance. For more information, see Instance Configuration. To continue, click Next.

Instance ID suffix - By default, the instance name is used as the Instance ID suffix. This is used to identify installation directories and registry keys for your instance of SQL Server. This is the case for default instances and named instances. For a default instance, the instance name and instance ID suffix would be MSSQLSERVER. To use a non-default instance ID suffix, select the Instance ID suffix check box and provide a value.

Note

Typical stand-alone instances of SQL Server 2008, whether default or named instances, do not use a non-default value for the Instance ID suffix check box.

Instance root directory - By default, the instance root directory is C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\. To specify a non-default root directory, use the field provided, or click Browse to locate an installation folder.

All SQL Server service packs and upgrades will apply to every component of an instance of SQL Server.

Detected instances and features - The grid will show instances of SQL Server that are on the computer where Setup is running. If a default instance is already installed on the computer, you must install a named instance of SQL Server 2008. To continue, click Next.

The Disk Space Requirements page calculates the required disk space for the features you specify. It then compares requirements to the available disk space. For more information, see Disk Space Requirements.

Work flow for the remainder of this topic depends on the features you have specified for your installation. You might not see all of the pages, depending on your selections.

On the Server Configuration — Service Accounts page, specify login accounts for SQL Server services. The actual services that are configured on this page depend on the features you selected to install.

You can assign the same login account to all SQL Server services, or you can configure each service account individually. You can also specify whether services start automatically, are started manually, or are disabled. Microsoft recommends that you configure service accounts individually to provide least privileges for each service, where SQL Server services are granted the minimum permissions they need to complete their tasks. For more information, see Server Configuration - Service Accounts and Setting Up Windows Service Accounts.

To specify the same logon account for all service accounts in this instance of SQL Server, provide credentials in the fields at the bottom of the page.

Security Note Do not use a blank password. Use a strong password.

When you are finished specifying login information for SQL Server services, click Next.

Use the Server Configuration - Collation tab to specify non-default collations for the Database Engine and Analysis Services. For more information, see Server Configuration - Collation.

Use the Database Engine Configuration - Account Provisioning page to specify the following:

Security Mode - select Windows Authentication or Mixed Mode Authentication for your instance of SQL Server. If you select Mixed Mode Authentication, you must provide a strong password for the built-in SQL Server system administrator account.

SQL Server Administrators - You must specify at least one system administrator for the instance of SQL Server. To add the account under which SQL Server Setup is running, click Add Current User. To add or remove accounts from the list of system administrators, click Add or Remove, and then edit the list of users, groups, or computers that will have administrator privileges for the instance of SQL Server. For more information, see Database Engine Configuration - Account Provisioning.

When you are finished editing the list, click OK. Verify the list of administrators in the configuration dialog box. When the list is complete, click Next.

If you specify non-default installation directories, ensure that the installation folders are unique to this instance of SQL Server. None of the directories in this dialog box should be shared with directories from other instances of SQL Server.

Use the Database Engine Configuration - FILESTREAM page to enable FILESTREAM for your instance of SQL Server. For more information about FILESTREAM, see Database Engine Configuration - Filestream. To continue, click Next.

Use the Analysis Services Configuration - Account Provisioning page to specify users or accounts that will have administrator permissions for Analysis Services. You must specify at least one system administrator for Analysis Services. To add the account under which SQL Server Setup is running, click Add Current User. To add or remove accounts from the list of system administrators, click Add or Remove, and then edit the list of users, groups, or computers that will have administrator privileges for Analysis Services. For more information, see Analysis Services Configuration - Account Provisioning.

When you are finished editing the list, click OK. Verify the list of administrators in the configuration dialog box. When the list is complete, click Next.

If you specify non-default installation directories, ensure that the installation folders are unique to this instance of SQL Server. None of the directories in this dialog box should be shared with directories from other instances of SQL Server.

On the Error and Usage Reporting page, specify the information you would like to send to Microsoft that will help to improve SQL Server. By default, options for error reporting and feature usage are enabled. For more information, see Error Reporting.

The System Configuration Checker will run one more set of rules to validate your computer configuration with the SQL Server features you have specified.

The Ready to Install page displays a tree view of installation options that were specified during Setup. To continue, click Install.

During installation, the Installation Progress page provides status so you can monitor installation progress as Setup proceeds.

After installation, the Complete page provides a link to the summary log file for the installation and other important notes. To complete the SQL Server installation process, click Close.

If you are instructed to restart the computer, do so now. It is important to read the message from the Installation Wizard when you are done with Setup. For information about Setup log files, see How to: View and Read SQL Server Setup Log Files.